Sunday, May 4, 2008

News flash: there is an Evening Grosbeak at the feeders at the BSBO nature center (just north of Rt 2 at the entrance to Crane Creek / Magee Marsh) right now, just after 12:30 p.m. on Sunday May 4. I'm not aware of any being seen in n.w. Ohio within the last couple of months, so the arrival of this bird was a distinct surprise. More details later.

Crane Creek, Magee Marsh, Black Swamp: where are we?

Birders all over North America have heard of "the boardwalk at Crane Creek" as a fabulous place to see migrants, while locals more often refer to "the Magee boardwalk." The confusion is understandable. The famous boardwalk is actually on the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, while the adjacent beach and half the parking lot were until recently part of Crane Creek State Park; the latter areas were turned over to the Ohio Division of Wildlife on May 1, 2008. The creek itself --Crane Creek--flows into Lake Erie just west of the boardwalk, on Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. Our bird observatory is named for the Great Black Swamp, which used to cover much of northwestern Ohio and northeastern Indiana. On these pages I refer to "the Crane Creek -Magee Region" as a general term for the Lake Erie shoreline between Toledo and Sandusky, Ohio.